It is well known that a bean-bag secured to the underside of a lap tray, greatly assists in supporting the lap tray on the lap of a seated person in a stable and comfortable manner. This enables operations such as eating or the carrying out of any handiwork on the tray to be effected more easily and reliably than in the case of a lap tray not supported by means of a bean-bag.
In order to ensure that a bean-bag is properly supported on a person's lap it must be of an adequate size and the layer of elements located within the bean-bag must be sufficiently thick to ensure that a layer of elements is present at all required locations over the surface of the tray irrespective of the manner in which the elements may migrate towards one side of the bag in use. A cost factor is thus present in the quantity of elements required for the bag.
Furthermore, in the manufacture of such bean-bags, it is generally a messy operation to fill the prefabricated fabric bean-bags with certain types of elements such as, for example, expanded polystyrene beads. The reason for this is that, generally speaking, the bags for such bean-bag trays are made by a cut, make and trim operation (CMT) and this is conveniently carried out as a home industry by numerous different persons at different locations. In view of the fact that such bags are often required to be stitched closed, the filling thereof with the elements is conveniently carried out at the place where the bag is made.
It is one object of this invention to provide a bean-bag supported lap tray in which the quantity of elements employed in the bean-bag may be decreased without adversely affecting the performance of the lap tray assembly.
It is another object of the invention to provide a bean-bag supported lap tray which, in addition, or in the alternative, can be more easily or conveniently manufactured, particularly, but not exclusively, on a home industries type of basis.
It is yet another alternative object of this invention to avoid entirely the necessity of a sewing or stitching operation in the manufacture of such lap trays.